Most Creative Guitarists

waldo

The Top Ten

1Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix (born November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970) was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter . Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated ...read more.

He didn't have any proper instructor. He used to listen to the tapes and practice for hours. Basically it was Jimi Hendrix when rock guitar took a huge turn. I remember a quote from Yngwie Malmsteen. He said, "None of us would be here if it wasn't for Jimi Hendrix". Other guitarists were also creative but Jimi Hendrix left his influence which kept him legend. - zxm

2Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, actor and filmmaker.

3Neil YoungNeil Percival Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician, producer, director and screenwriter.

4Ritchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work in the hard rock/metal bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. He was ranked number 16 on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time" in 2004, and number 50 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the ...read more.

Created the template for metal music. What would be more creative than this? - Metal_Treasure

5Brian MayBrian Harold May is an English musician, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen.

6Pete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead guitarist and songwriter for the rock band The Who.

7John LennonJohn Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He was assassinated by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980 at age 40.

NO. John Lennon was not a creative guitarist; he wasn’t even that good. He was mediocre at best, and his piano skills weren’t that amazing either.

8Carlos SantanaCarlos Santana is a Mexican and American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American jazz.

9Lindsey BuckinghamLindsey Adams Buckingham is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer, best known as lead guitarist and one of the vocalists of the musical group Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987, and then 1997 to the present day.

10Steve HackettStephen Richard Hackett is an English musician, songwriter, singer and producer who gained prominence as the guitarist of the English progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977.

The Contenders

11Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. He has also been a member of Derek and the Dominos.

12Syd BarrettRoger Keith Barrett was an English musician, composer, singer, songwriter, and painter. Best known as a founder member of the band Pink Floyd, Barrett was the lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter in its early years and is credited with naming the band.

13Les PaulLester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor.

14Duane AllmanHoward Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician, and co-founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band until his death in a motorcycle crash in 1971, when he was 24 years old.

15Jimmy PageJames Patrick Page is an English musician, songwriter, and record producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin.

He was one of the pioneering of making electronic kinda sound through his guitar. He also popularized the uses of pickup toggle switch on his les paul and different pedal and effect uses. He also popularized bowed guitar and made kinda dive-bomb sound without a whammy bar! - zxm

He's the guitarist with the most plagiarism... it doesn't speak creativity in my honest opinion. - Metal_Treasure

@CostcoHotDogs RE "How did he plagiarize? "Go to my list Top 10 Songs That Led Zeppelin Ripped Off - Metal_Treasure

16Eddie Van HalenEdward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen.

17George HarrisonGeorge Harrison was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music and film producer who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles.

18Tony IommiAnthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer. Best known as lead guitarist and founding member of the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, he has been the band's sole continual member and primary composer. At age 17, he accidentally lost the fingertips of his middle ...read more.

He created the Metal sound, with heavily distorted guitars, down-tunings, and just metallic riffs in general. Also self-taught. And he was also extremely creative when he made fake fingertips for himself. - SoldierOfFortune

19Tom MorelloThomas Morello is an American musician, singer-songwriter and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave.

20Steve HoweStephen James "Steve" Howe is an English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock group Yes.